


Here Kitty, Kitty!

by CarcinoArison



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Accidental Plot, Animal Transformation, Biting, Cat Hybrid Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Cat/Human Hybrids, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Gen, Magical Accidents, Nonbinary My Unit | Byleth, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Purring, Scratching, Sort Of, Yes you read that right, love that tag, no beta we die like Glenn, this wasn't meant to be so serious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22346659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarcinoArison/pseuds/CarcinoArison
Summary: With the war going on, Seteth agrees to open the restricted section of the library in case there could be knowledge there that could help them in battle. Instead what Lysithea and Annette find is a book of mischief (although they don't know that's what it is at the time) and poor Felix who was just there to help them with the heavy lifting accidentally becomes their victim.This is a Catboy Felix you have been warned.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic & Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Dedue Molinaro, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Lysithea von Ordelia, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Mercedes von Martritz
Comments: 13
Kudos: 49





	1. Oops

**Author's Note:**

  * For [unsungillumination](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unsungillumination/gifts).



> *leans real close to the mic* I would just like to thank the ten-hour version of the Tetris theme for getting me through this
> 
> Anyway this is 3.5k words of catboy felix dedicated to unsungillumination aka @corviiid on twitter. I'll admit this chapter is a little boring cause it's mostly just the set up but I swear I have other chapters planned featuring plenty of catboy felix shenanigans and I am also open to requests (don't really wanna do shippy stuff though).
> 
> also just a small trigger warning but Felix does low key refer to Dedue as a lap dog later on in the chapter and I know that bothers some people

Felix’s nose twitches when Annette slams some ancient tomb down on the table near him, the damned thing is so old Felix is surprised it doesn’t just crumble entirely into dust. 

“Careful Annette, that was too loud,” Lysithea shushes from her spot over by the shelves. 

Given that they were in the middle of a war and that they were all adults now, Seteth had given the Blue Lions house the keys to access the restricted section of the library. Stating that it may contain old or unconventional knowledge that could be useful in the fight against Edelgard.

Obviously- being the book worms that they are- Lysithea and Annette were the most eager for the chance to learn some forgotten magic and asked Felix to supervise them in case there was some sort of accident. He gets that to some extent this could be important to the war effort so Felix agrees to hang around while they work. However, it’s turning out to be a fairly dull experience where the most Felix has done in nearly an hour and a half is help the girls carry some of the bigger books. 

“Ahh… sorry! I shouldn’t have tried to carry one so heavy, I’ll be more careful.” Despite the plume of dust currently irritating Felix’s sinuses he can’t help but roll his eyes fondly at Annette’s antics. 

She says she’ll be more careful but he knows that this is far from the last mistake she’ll ever make. Although, he doesn’t seem to mind Annette’s clumsiness as much as he does other people’s. As long as she’s got people like him and Lysithea around to help her out he thinks she’ll be fine. 

“What is that one anyway, it’s really dusty so it must have been laying around for a while,” Lysithea asks as she moves to join them at the table.

Annette squints to read the title of the book and Felix thinks to himself that her eyes are probably going bad from all the studying she does. “Li-bri Eo-rum Lo- Lo… Lo-contour? I’m not sure about that last one-” Annette frowns- “It's spelt a bit funny,” 

“Libri Eorum Loquuntur,” Lysithea pronounces. Annette and Felix turn to her. “What? I’ve just heard this language spoken by other mages before.” She blushes and looks away. 

“Does that mean you understand it?” Felix asks.

Lysithea shakes her head. “No sorry. My understanding is very basic.”

“Oh well, we can ask Seteth about that later. Let’s take a look inside!” With that Annette jams her fingers into a random part of the book and heaves it open, creating another cloud of dust.

“Ugh.. geez! Someone really should have been taking better care of these things,” Lysithea coughs and splutters. 

Felix’s nose twitches again but this time he can’t keep himself from sneezing. Annette snickers, “Felix you sneeze like a kitten!”

Heat rises to his cheeks, “No I don’t!” 

“Ugh, you sneezed all over the book that’s gross,” Lysithea groans.

“Sorry,” he grumbles.

Annette just giggles at him again before turning her attention to the now open book.

“Hm… weird, the book is written in the same language as the cover but someone’s added some Fodlan translations but only to the instructions. So we know how to do the spell but not what it does.”

Lysithea peaks over her shoulder. “It doesn’t look overly complicated either. Seems you just need something from your victim that ties them to the spell… and then you just say the words.”

“Wow! These are even more complicated than the title! Do you think you can figure out how to pronounce it Lys?”

Lysithea scoffs, “Of course I can. The chant is ostendere bestia est homo in interiorem”

Felix isn't’ really sure what happens after Lysithea says the chant because all at once he is struck by a blinding pain in both his head and his lower back. He collapses to the ground with a scream of anguish. He Vaguely registers Lysithea and Annette rushing over to him and talking to him in panicked tones but before he can try and reach for the words to reassure them, his world is engulfed in white light before he blacks out completely.

___________ 

Dedue is, as per usual, sitting at one of the pews in the cathedral that is closest to his Highness in order to keep an eye on him as he… broods. It is where Dedue can most often be found these days seeing as Gilbert took up most of his other duties in his absence. He doesn’t mind though. Dedue’s place has always been at his Highness’s side, for better or for worse. 

Since Dedue now has a lot more idle time than he is used to, and he cannot indulge in his usual hobbies of cooking and gardening from the cathedral, he has taken up some new hobbies that can be done at his post such as sewing and crafts. One lucky day he was even able to convince his Highness to allow him to stitch up some of the raggedness his cloak had received during his missing five years. 

The cathedral is not as busy as it was back in his academy days so, for the most part, Dedue is left to spend his days in relative peace and quiet. Today, however, the sweet eerie silence of the holy structure is greatly disturbed when his fellow housemates Lysithea and Annette come running through the place like twin hurricanes, calling for Dedue. 

“Dedue! Deeduuuueee!” He really does wish they’d be a bit quieter, this is a church after all and he doesn’t want them to aggravate his Highness.

“There is no need to shout. I can hear you,” he informs them politely as they reach him at the back of the church. 

“We messed up big time Dedue.” Annette pants from running. “You need to come with us. You have to see it to believe it and we don’t know what to do.” Lysithea is nodding enthusiastically beside her...

Dedue frowns. He is not entirely sure what sort of situation would require this kind of response. However, were someone dying he would hope that Lysithea and Annette would simply tell him outright. He believes this is something different. He stands up and places his current sewing project gently back on the seat behind him. He doubts anyone here would take it. He nods once at the two women and gestures for them to lead the way. 

As they move towards wherever it is that they’re headed, Dedue notes that Lysithea and Annette do not seem to be panicked, per se, just nervous. He also notes that they seem to be heading towards the Dormitories. Perhaps someone is ill and the girls want his advice in taking care of them? Although that doesn’t explain their statement of ‘he has to see it to believe it.”

He is led to the second floor of the dormitories and towards the end of the hall. Dedue panics for a second that perhaps they have done something dreadful to his Highness’s room. While he may not be using it at the moment, Dedue would prefer it to remain intact. Fortunately, the trio stops before his Highness’s room and instead enter Felix’s. 

Dedue’s brain comes to a complete standstill. Lysithea and Annette stand at Felix’s bedside looking at him with expectation and fear but Dedue can not formulate any sort of emotional response to offer them. Felix lies on his bed, stripped of his weapons and curled in a fetal position on his side, with two catlike ears sprouting from his head and a rather elegant tail curling from his lower back. 

Dedue is not sure of how many moments pass in silence but it is enough that Lysithea and Annette start to shuffle awkwardly where they are standing.

“What…-” Dedue starts- “exactly has happened here.”

Lysithea won’t meet his eye and Annette seems to be biting her lip to keep from crying. He hopes, absentmindedly, that he is not intimidating them too much.

It is Lysithea who speaks up first. “Felix was helping us look through the restricted section of the library for anything we could potentially use in battle when we found a very old book in a language we didn’t understand and accidentally cast a spell from it!” Lysithea rushes the story so fast that Dedue almost doesn’t catch it.

Dedue looks at Felix again. It is probably the most peaceful Dedue has ever seen Felix in all the years they’ve known each other, he can’t help but think Felix looks very nice like this. Other than the ears and tail he can’t see anything wrong or out of the ordinary. He understands that given the current state of things both Dedue and the Professor have become the primary givers of support among the monastery but for once he does not have even the slightest of clues as to what he should do about this.

“I do not mean to sound rude but I do not believe I am the right person to assist in this. I am very much lacking in skill when it comes to the magical arts and I have little knowledge of Fodlan history. If you want my advice, it would be to speak to either Manuela or Seteth about this. Perhaps both.”

Annette and Lysithea both look crestfallen at that and Dedue cannot suppress the twinge of guilt he feels at not being able to provide them with a solution. 

“Well… can you at least stay with us until he wakes up? He’s gonna be really angry when he wakes up and I don’t know if Annette’s pouty face will be enough to calm him down this time…”

Dedue sighs. He understands their concern, even if Felix does not lash out at them physically he can be just as brutal with his words but Dedue is already starting to feel anxious at being away from his Highness for so long. However, this is a fairly serious situation and the goddess knows what kind of condition Felix will be in when he wakes up. If he can’t walk, it would not be fair to leave Annette and Lysithea to carry him to the infirmary. 

“Alright,” he relents, “I will stay until he wakes and help escort him to the infirmary afterwards.”

Dedue stumbles as Annette leaps to hug him with a surprising amount of might for such a small lady. “Oh thank you Dedue! This means the world to me I promise we’ll make it up to you!”

“Annette, shhh!” Lysithea scolds, “Felix is still sleeping.”

“Oh yeah, sorry!”

Lysithea just rolls her eyes and pulls out Felix’s desk chair to sit in. Dedue situates himself by the door and Annette moves towards the bed to have a closer look at Felix. 

“You have to admit though… he does look really cute.” As if without thinking, Annette’s hand slowly moves towards the spot on Felix’s head between his ears. 

“Annette!” Lysithea jumps up. “You can’t do that! Felix will actually kill you!”

Annette looks back guiltily, “He doesn’t have to know! I have a better chance of being able to do it now than when he’s awake.” 

Assured in her logic, Annette continues her actions. Dedue can’t help but agree with Lysithea in that watching Annette move to pat Felix on the head is sending off warning bells in his head. Fortunately, Felix does not immediately awaken in a ball of rage and swords as Annette’s hand makes contact. Instead, as Annette starts to scratch gently around where his ears are, a low rumbling sound comes from Felix instead. 

“Oh my goddess, he’s purring,” Annette whispers in complete awe. Dedue swears he can see stars in her eyes. 

Lysithea moves from her seat to peak over Annette’s shoulder, moving cautiously as if one wrong step will cause an explosion. “I wanna have a go as well” Annette backs away carefully allowing Lysithea to take her place.

“His ears are so soft…” Lysithea mutters almost to herself as it is hard to hear her over Felix’s purring. 

Suddenly, the purring cuts off and Lysithea jerks her hand back as Felix gives a yawn with way more fangs than any human is meant to have. He starts to sit up and Annette and Lysithea scramble back to hide by Dedue. 

Felix doesn’t seem to notice them in his grogginess, instead opting to lick his hand and use it to clean behind his ears. Dedue understands what he is doing. He has seen real cats do the same. However, if Dedue thought his brain had been frozen earlier what it is doing now can only be considered a total breakdown. The three stand at the door in the most oppressing silence Dedue has ever felt. Annette once again looks as though she is about to cry and Lysithea is poised and ready to run at a moment's notice.

Felix, however, is completely blind to their shocked states and merely continues to groom himself as if it is the most natural thing in the world. 

Felix freezes mid lick and his eyes snap wide open.

Dedue has known Felix for a number of years now even if they’ve never exactly been close and during that time Dedue would never have described himself as feeling intimidated by Felix. However, the look on Felix’s face as he slowly turns to face the trio at the doorway still in the position to lick his hand, gives Dedue chills down his spine as nothing else has in a long time.

The others must feel the same because Dedue registers that Lysithea has his arm in a death grip and a sniffle from his side indicates that Annette’s tears have finally burst forth. 

Felix lowers his hand but does not relax his glare even a little. “What… Exactly… Have you done to me?” his voice is low and dangerous and Dedue does not like it one bit. 

“It was an accident…” Annette squeaks out.

“That spell from the old book we cast seems to have given you the features of a cat,” Lysithea tries to explain with confidence. 

“If you are willing, we’d like to take you to the infirmary to be checked by Manuela. Just to be sure there are no ill side effects,” Dedue adds. 

Felix takes several deep breaths and Dedue considers shifting into a more defensive position, he’s fairly certain he can take on an unarmed Felix and if not he can at least protect the girls. Fortunately, this isn’t necessary as the breathing seems to be enough to bring Felix down for the time being. “Fine. I’ll go with you.” 

Both Lysithea and Annette seem to start breathing again and Dedue would be lying if he said he didn’t let out a sigh of relief as well. Felix gets up from his spot on the bed and stalks over to the mirror on the wall. His new ears twitch as he looks at them but other then shows no outward emotion towards his new appendages other than vague annoyance. Which is how Felix usually looks at things. 

“Oh!” Annette jumps, “You should tuck your tail in and cover your ears with your hood! So you don’t alarm anyone.” Felix nods to her and moves to do so. 

_____________

Felix’s stomach is churning as Dedue knocks on Manuela’s door. He wants nothing more than to go back to his dorm and take another nap but the fact that he wants that over going to the training grounds is enough to convince him that he needs this check-up.  
He doesn’t want to make a scene of being freaked out because he knows that will only make Lysithea and Annette feel worse. This really isn’t their fault, the spell probably wouldn’t have gone off if Felix hadn’t sneezed all over the book in the first place. He is pissed off, sure, but not at them. 

Unfortunately for him, Manuela actually seems to be present and sober for once. Although her professional conduct seems to be just as lacking as ever. She gives them all a once over before stoping on Felix and his completely ridiculous hood. 

“My, what an interesting group of people. What exactly brings you lot to my door?” Felix’s stomach does a particularly nauseating flip. He’s never liked the way she talks. 

The other three all give Felix a look and he rolls his eyes before taking off his hood. Finally, his ears were getting really uncomfortable under there. Manuela’s eyes widen and he makes sure to scowl at her.

“Well, I suppose you better come in then. The rest of you wait outside or go back to whatever you were doing. This is probably going to take a while.” 

Felix feels more like he’s walked into a prison sentence, as Manuela shuts the door behind him, then an infirmary and he almost wishes Dedue could be here with him since he’s pretty good rebuffing these sorts of thin-

“Alright hon, I’m gonna need you to strip.” 

Huh? Felix’s brain stops and he looks at Manuela slack-jawed. 

Manuela clicks her tongue at him. “Don’t give me that look, this isn’t a come on. This looks like some pretty serious transformation magic so I’m going to need to give you a full physical to try and make a record of everything that’s changed.”

“Is a full physical really necessary?” Felix cringes. 

“Yes, Felix. In order to understand the extent of the changes it is very necessary.”

Felix groans but moves to start taking off his clothes none the less. 

______________

After a gruelling two hours of tests that have left Felix in desperate need of a nap, he is finally released by Manuela with a file containing her initial results on Felix’s new physical nature and some suggestions he’s sure he’s going to ignore. To Felix’s surprise, Dedue is still waiting outside the infirmary although he has taken a seat on the ground and seems to have acquired some… sewing. 

Dedue looks up from his project as the door opens. “Ah, you’re done. How did it go?” Dedue may be acting polite but Felix can tell it’s awkward for him. Probably because most of their previous conversations involved Felix yelling insults at him. 

“That was probably one of the worst experiences of my life. However-” Felix gestures at the folder- “we now have a written record of all the know changes the spell made to me.”  
“That’s a great start,” Dedue nods. “The girls went to talk to Seteth to see if he knows anything useful.”

‘Why are you still here anyway? I thought you would’ve gone back to your master by now.” He would call Dedue a lap dog but he figures he has been helpful today so Felix might as well go easy on him.

Dedues face falls and Felix can’t help but feel little guilty, he hopes his ears don’t give it away. Sure it was unnecessary but he has a reputation to uphold. “I’m sure his Highness will manage to survive one day without me.” And there’s that calm dismissal that never fails to piss Felix off. His guilt quickly dissipates and he takes note of the way his tail seems to flick instinctually with his irritation. 

Before the situation can devolve into a real argument, Lysithea and Annette come running up. It’s kinda mean but Felix thinks they look a bit like woodland creatures running around on their little legs.

“We spoke with Seteth!” Annette announces, out of breath.

“You do not need to run everywhere,” Dedue says with concern.

“We spoke to Seteth-” Lysithea continues- “And he said that book is actually a ‘Book of Mischief’ and that spell was to ‘reveal one’s inner creature’. So in other words, it’s a prank spell from a prank book.”

Felix sputters, “Wha- What do you mean ‘reveals one’s inner creature’?! Why the hell am I a cat!?” He should be something way cooler right? Like… like a wolf or something.

Dedue ignores Felix’s comment, “Did Seteth say anything about reversing this?”

“He said that he’d talk to Professor Hanneman and Linhardt about doing some research into reversing but for now all we can do is wait.”

So, in other words, Felix is going to be stuck like this for a while. He’s not really sure how to feel about that. There haven’t really been any negative side effects yet but it’s still freaking weird to be a person with various cat features. A voice in his head that sounds annoyingly like Ingrid and that he would rather ignore, says that this is karma for him always comparing other people to animals. 

“Well…” Dedue looks down, “I suppose all that’s left to do now is to announce it to the rest of the house and the professor. It would hardly be practical for Felix to walk around all day wearing his hood.”

Dedue turns to Felix, “That reminds me, if you are willing to offer up your coat for a short time, I could sew some proper earholes into the hood so it’s not so uncomfortable.”

Felix takes a deep breath. These are the things he has to worry about now. Ear holes for his hoods, finger holes for his new claws, and probably holes in his pants for his tail. Being a cat/human hybrid seems to involve a lot of holes. It’s also going to involve a lot of explaining things, starting with the former Blue Lions


	2. The Gang Finds Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dedue announces the news to the rest of the former Blue Lions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _hhhhhhhhhh_ okay so this chap was a lil bit difficult to get out, I kept getting stuck, I didn't know how to end it, I don't feel like it has a nice flow but! I feel like it does at least have some funny parts so I hope you enjoy
> 
> I usually have a bit to say but this is all for now so enjoy I guess

“Your Highness, we are having an announcement in the war room. Would you like to attend?”

“Does it have anything to do with our plans to march on Enbarr?”

“No, Your Highness.”

“Then I have no interest. Leave me alone.”

Dedue sighs, “Yes… Your Highness.”

Dedue does this for every meeting of the Blue Lions. And for every meeting, the conversation goes pretty much exactly the same. That won’t stop Dedue from trying though and this particularly news involves his Highness’s oldest and, once, closest friend. He has a right to at least be invited. Although he will find out about this particular change as soon as they gather for battle. Whether he will acknowledge it is entirely different matter. 

Dedue is in charge of making the announcement of Felix’s magical mishap. Lysithea, Annette, and Felix all agree that he is the best when it comes to delivering news and this particular news will just sound ridiculous coming form anyone else. However, despite his calm demeanor, he can’t deny that this whole situation is… weird. It’s weird. There’s no other way to think about it and Dedue is nervous to explain things to the rest of their former class. he sighs again. It seems to be becoming a habit for him these days. With his Highness’s dismissal heads back across the bridge and towards the war council room. 

_____________

“Greetings... everyone,” Dedue sweeps his gaze across the room. “I have asked you all here today to discuss a… particular incident… that took place yesterday.” 

Hushed whispers spread through the group, speculations about what this could be about, and concern over Dedue’s uncharacteristic nervousness. Amongst the quiet chatter only Lysithea, Annette, and the Professor remain in silence. Felix is also silent but mostly because it’s obvious that the incident involved him due to the fact that he’s sitting there with his hood on. It’s subtle but Dedue thinks he can see his cat ears twitching. 

Dedue clears his throat before continuing, “As some of you may be aware, Seteth granted us the keys to the restricted section of the library and Lysithea and Annette were searching this section for any old information or magic that may be of use to the war efforts.” 

“However…” Dedue takes a deep breath, by the goddess this is painful. “An unknown spell was accidentally fired leading too some… changes that will exist indefinitely unless a reversal is found.”

Dedue doesn’t actually have a way to explain what happened in words so instead he just nods at Felix, who glares back at him. At least some things never change. 

_____________

Felix glares at Dedue desperately hoping that killing with a look is something he developed through his transformation. Unfortunately, Dedue doesn’t show any signs that his rage filled stare is doing anything so Instead Felix is just going to have to go along with him. Ugh, he despises having everyone’s eyes on him like this, if it were up to him he wouldn’t be in the room for this at all. 

Felix takes a deep breath, clenches his jaw to keep from saying anything to scathing, for once, and braces himself for the inevitable onslaught of foolishness as he finally takes off his hood, revealing his ears. Just as well, the hood was starting to get really uncomfortable, he might actually have to take Dedue up on his offer to sew some holes in. How annoying. 

The room is the quietest Felix has ever heard it as his former class mates take in his new features. The weight of their stares is heavier then ever and Felix puts all of his self control into schooling his emotions. Something that is a lot more difficult when he has when his new features and instincts seem keen to announce how he’s feeling to the entire freaking monastery. Sylvain in particular is staring slack-jawed, as though he’s seen a ghost, and Felix wants nothing more then to tell him to shut his damn mouth. 

The silence seems to stretch on forever and Felix’s agitation increases with every second of it to the point that he knows his ears must be twitching by now. No one knows what to say until their professor, in the same monotone voice they use to explain they’re lessons, asks, “Will this have any significant impact on your combat ability?”

Felix looks down at the table, to drained at this point to even attempt making eye contact, “I don’t know for sure yet but I doubt it.”

Byleth simply nods at him then gets up from the table, “Then I see no reason why anyone needs to make a big deal out of this. If that’s all, I am going to return to my work now.” They walk to the door and they’re final words before leaving hit Felix in the face like a slap and leaves his cheeks just as red, “You look very cute Felix.” Distantly Felix thinks he hears Dedue choking. 

“Well uhh… Meeting dismissed. Sorry for taking up your time.” With that Dedue leaves just as promptly as the professor did with Felix not far behind. 

______________

Felix has made it as far as the dining hall and has taken a seat in the back corner, where he’ll be most hidden, when his former classmates seem to think it’s a good idea to all join him. It’s a cacophony of foolishness as they all try- key word being try- to be inconspicuous about sitting and Felix desperately prays to the Sothis that she’ll make the ground open up and swallow him.

Unfortunately, the Goddess lets him down and he makes a note to bring it up with the Professor later, seeing as they seem to be the go to for religion these days. Finally his classmates settle into their seats but they give him barely a moment of peace before launching into their interrogations.

“Does it feel weird?”

“How did this happen?”

“Did you grow any fur in other places?”

“Do you have a craving for fish or milk?”

“Is your hearing better now?” 

Felix doesn’t answer but yes, yes his hearing was better and right now his new ears are being completely overloaded! He’s tempted to run away but there’s not really anywhere he can go to avoid this right now so he just sinks lower in his seat and hopes everyone takes his silence as a hint to leave him alone. 

Just when Felix is seriously considering getting violent the voice of an angel suddenly pierces through the ruckus.

“Now now, everyone. Felix as been through a lot the last couple of days and I doubt all of you yelling at him is making him feel any better. Sit back down in your seats and give the poor man some space,” Mercedes gently scolds before taking a seat next to Felix himself.

The group quietens almost instantly while Mercedes gives him a smile and in his slightly shaken state Felix feels as though he’s gazing on true divinity.

“Felix, would you like me to go and get you some lunch so you don’t have to talk to anyone?” Distracted, Felix only nods at her.

“Okay then, what would you like to eat?” He frowns at this. He knows exactly what he feels like he wants but if he says it out loud everyone will surely laugh. 

Instead, he leans in and whispers what he wants into Mercedes’ ear. “Sure thing,” she smiles at him, “I’ll be right back so don’t cause any trouble while I’m gone.”

Felix panics as he suddenly realises that Mercedes going to get him lunch means she won’t be here to keep the others under control and he gazes after her with a look of helplessness before slowly turning back to the others while keeping his eyes firmly on the table. 

No one’s talking right now but the atmosphere at the table feels like it’s smothering Felix. He knows they probably want him to say something but the fact of the matter he doesn’t really know what to say that wouldn’t be too personal for him to tell them. Magical accident or no Felix would still like to keep a certain amount of privacy. 

“You know, to be honest I can barely see any difference.” Of course. Of course Sylvain would be the one to break the silence with such an asinine comment.

“And what exactly do you mean by that?” Felix glares at him.

Sylvain seems to be unaware of the potential threat to his life and limb at the moment and keeps barreling forward. “Well, what I mean is that you’ve always reminded me of a cat. Now you’ve just got the ears and tail to match!” 

Not wanting to make a scene in the dining hall but fully intending to kick Sylvain’s ass in the training hall later, Felix grits his teeth and tells him, “For the last time… I. Am. Not. A. Cat.”

The rest of the table subtly moves a little further away from Felix as if being pushed back by the aura of rage that was surrounding him but unfortunately such things have never worked on Sylvain, who just chuckles at the angry look on Felix’s face, “Aww, your ears twitch when you’re cranky now! That’s kind of adorable.”

Suddenly, several things are happening at once. When asked about it later Felix would say the most of the event was a blur and he’s not even sure what happened. Sylvain’s hand is moving towards his face, presumably on a journey to scratch him between the ears, and Felix, full of anger at Sylvain and a lot of physical changes he doesn’t understand yet, acts on instinct. 

In a blink, Felix goes from the sight of Sylvain’s hand reaching out to having his, now particularly sharp, teeth clamped on several of his fingers. Both men are frozen in place. Sylvain with a look of regret on his face and no idea how to react to his childhood friend biting his hand, and Felix trying to figure out why the hell he did that and why the hell wasn’t he letting go?

For a moment one could swear time has stopped as everyone at the table is frozen while they desperately try to process the events unfolding in front of them. Until, once again, Mercedes is the queen of good timing as she returns with their lunch. 

“Felix, get those fingers out of your mouth, you have no idea where they could’ve been!”

That seems to be enough to break Felix out of his stupor and he can’t help but gag a little at the implication of Mercedes’ words. Sylvain is quick to withdraw his hand and Ingrid snatches it from him so she can peer at the bite marks, “He drew blood,” she whispers. Although if it’s in awe or horror, Felix isn’t sure. 

Mercedes seems content to act as though nothing happened and proceeds to place the lunch she brought in front of Felix, with a smile, before settling down next to him with her own lunch. The smell of Fisherman’s Bounty instantly fills Felix’s nose and is powerful enough to almost have him drooling. He could apologise to Sylvain and make sure he’s ok, or he could he could start shovelling these various pieces of fish into his mouth as quickly as possible. 

He can still feel the weight of everyone’s stares as he eats but the food is too good for him to really care. In the back of his mind, however, he does acknowledge that this is weird. While Felix is definitely known for being an avid meat eater, he can’t say he’s ever had any particular craving for fish before but right now this Fisherman’s Bounty tastes like the food of the Goddess herself. 

“Ah fish, of course,” Sylvain remarks, not having learnt his lesson despite still cradling his wounded hand. Felix looks up just long enough to give him a pointed glare but quickly goes right back to inhaling his meal.

Ingrid pulls a face. “Goodness, you’re going through that even faster then I normally go at my food, and that’s saying something,” 

“I’m glad you like it Felix but be careful you don’t choke,” Mercedes warns him, Felix only grunts in response and continues to eat his food as fast as possible. 

“Seeing as we don’t have any way to reverse this at the moment, I guess this is just how things are going to be for the time being. I wonder if there will be many other changes.” Ashe chips in now that the initial drama has passed. 

“Maybe we should like, do some tests, or something, to see what’s changed?” Sylvain says though a mouthful of food.

“That’s not a bad idea, although I doubt your intentions.” Ingrid frowns at him. 

Ashe talks over the pair before they can start bickering, “It might be good to talk to Linhardt about this! Magical accidents, cats, and studying the unusual, it’s everything he’s interested in except crests!”

Felix comes up for air from his food, “That’s… actually not a bad idea. Could you ask him for me? I’ve never really spoken to him.”

Ashe nods enthusiastically, “Sure, I’d be happy too!”

The rest of lunch passes in relative quiet once everyone gets settled with their own meals and no one seems too interested in asking Felix anymore questions after what happened to Sylvain. If nothing else, the incident gave a hint as to how much Felix has changed, and how he’s going to have to pay more attention to his new instincts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so, sorry about the slight angst at the start but like, it's Dimitri, what do you expect. Don't worry though! he'll be more fun in the next chap
> 
> okay so even though this was "the gang finds out" most of the blue lions don't feature that heavily so if you want to see Felix interacting with a specific character in a specific scenario please feel free to leave a request, I do have a few more chaps planned but then I'll be all free
> 
> Also I'm using this fic to push my "Felix and Linhardt should be friends" agenda because they should be and it's my fic
> 
> Next up: Dimitri finds out post-Gronder field


	3. Dimitri Finds Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Gronder Field, Dimitri discovers that the rest of the world has moved on while he was singularly focused on decapitating Edelgard. A lot has changed and some things a weirder to process than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhh hey! long time no see but I'm here to continue these catboy Felix shenanigans!
> 
> This is less a "Dimitri finds out" and more "Dimitri tries to mentally process that his best friend has cat ears"
> 
> I said before that this isn't meant to be shippy but I do have a bias towards dimilix so sorry if it shows
> 
> I'd say more but it's getting late and I'm sleepy which makes it hard to make the words go so without further ado

Things started to move quickly after the battle at Gronder Field, something Dimitri is thankful for as it gave him less time to dwell on… well… everything. Apart from suddenly taking on numerous kingly duties, He's also trying to process how all his former classmates have changed over the years. It's not that he hadn't noticed the differences when they all arrived at Garreg Mach, it's just that, amid his vengeful obsession with Edelgard, he hadn't cared. Now that the fog has somewhat cleared from his mind and the voices are a little quieter, he can finally appreciate how much they've all grown.

Ingrid's hair is short now and she got rid of her bangs, Dimitri has made sure to tell her that he thinks it suits her. Ashe has grown several centimetres since the academy and looks far more the knight he's always dreamed of being then he used to. Dedue hasn't actually grown but he holds himself with so much more confidence now that Dimitri can't help but feel that he towers over everyone more then he used to. Sylvain hasn't changed all that much, aside from some minor details, but Dimitri can see how the darkness in and under his eyes has grown over the years. Felix… Felix has cat ears and a tail.

Dimitri can vaguely recall this change happening not too long after the Blue Lion's initial reunion, however, he also recalls quickly dismissing the change as unimportant before returning his focus to mowing down as many imperial soldiers as physically possible. Now, Dimitri curses his brain for dismissing this as unimportant. His closest childhood friend has grown cat ears and a tail!! Of course that's important!! Unfortunately, Dimitri seems to be the only who cares at the moment, presumably because everyone else has simply moved on already given that they've been aware since it happened. 

However, it feels like Felix and Dimitri's relationship is at a crossroads right now, considering everything that's happened. It's honestly a miracle that Felix has stayed to fight by his side this long (it's a miracle that anyone has stuck around this long) and Dimitri is terrified of saying something that might push him away for good. For example, pointing out the fact that he seems to have gone through some unusual physical changes and can Dimitri please, pretty please, scratch him behind the ears, they look so soft and he wants to know if Felix will purr and-

Dimitri quickly cuts off his line of thinking because he knows the only way that scenario ends is with him losing his other eye. The point is that things have been… tenuous with Felix lately and Dimitri has been subtly avoiding him because he doesn't know how to handle the situation without screwing things up with Felix more then he already has.

"Talking to him will help a lot more than avoiding him, Your Highness." Dedue points out, shocking Dimitri out of his internal musings. They are having lunch together in the dining hall, a new tradition they have taken to based on a mutual concern for each other's health.

Dimitri gives Dedue a look, "talking to who will help a lot more, Dedue?"

"Felix, of course," he replies, as unfazed as ever.

"And what makes you so sure that Felix is the subject on my mind, hm?"

"You have a 'worrying about Felix' face, Your Highness. It's very similar to your "I'm getting a migraine' face."

Dimitri frowns. Felix has been the cause of many of Dimitri's migraines in the past so Dedue has a point.

"Fair enough. Then what makes you assume I'm avoiding him? I have been awfully busy as of late and Felix spends most of his time in the training grounds."

"Despite your new responsibilities you have also been spending a reasonable amount of time in the training grounds yet I have not seen you spar together once, something you still did regularly even when we were students at the academy and Felix hated you."

Dimitri deflates, he knows when to admit defeat and honestly he doesn't know why he thought he could successfully lie to Dedue in the first place.

"Talking to Felix is never easier, Dedue," he sighs.

Dedue's face softens, "You'd be surprised, Your Highness. He's matured a lot over the past five years and I truly believe he wants to rekindle your friendship as much as you do. Not mention his recent… biological changes have actually served to make him more flexible as a person."

"That may be true with everyone else Dedue but my mere presence is usually enough to annoy Felix."

Dedue sighs, "If it is worrying you so much, Your Highness, I could accompany you to talk to Felix."

Dimitri perks up. If Dedue's there, he'll be less nervous and therefore less likely to screw something up! "That would be amazing, Dedue!"

____________________

These days there are actually a number of places one could look for Felix at. With the cat spell and the passing of Lord Rodrigue, Felix's time spent at the training grounds has been cut down significantly. It's probably for the best that Dedue decided to accompany His Highness or else he wouldn't have been able to find Felix at all.

The Crown Prince of Faerghus is very shocked to find his oldest friend curled up under a tree napping.

"Does he do this often?"

Dedue allows himself a small smile. While this whole situation was very weird and confusing at first, most of them had gotten used to it by now. It's amusing to see someone struggle the way they did initially.

"Yes, Your Highness. We discovered the hard way that Felix needs more then a full night's sleep, he gets too exhausted if he doesn't take regular naps."

"Oh."

Dedue decides to spare His Highness the agony and kneels down next to Felix to gently shake him awake, It doesn't take much since pretty much all of Felix's senses are enhanced now. Felix yawns in a way that shows off all of his new teeth and Dedue thinks he hears His Highness gulp at the sight. Dedue reflects on how much things have changed given that he is no longer disturbed by the sight of Felix licking his hand and cleaning behind his ears.

Once he is finished Felix looks up at the two of them, squinting with disdain, "What do you want? Is something wrong?"

Dedue looks to His Highness in anticipation. This is his cue.

His Highness looks about as nervous as if he'd just been asked to dance in the Heron cup but does his best to put on the image of a noble king. An act that's actually more likely to piss Felix off.

"Uh… Nothing is wrong, Felix. I simply felt that…" His Highness takes a deep breath, "I simply felt that we are long overdue for a talk."

Dedue keeps his expression neutral. As deeply as he cares for His Highness, even he can't deny that sometimes the things he says are just so… lame.

Felix continues to squint at them with disdain, "Why do you make it sound like I'm a student who's been misbehaving? Are you making a run for Seteth's job?" 

This is the main reason Dedue felt he should tag along. It takes His Highness much time to build up the confidence to talk to Felix about serious matters and it often only takes one slash from Felix's cutting words to bring it all back crumbling down. In a near instant, Dimitri's kingly demeanour is gone and all that is left is a stammering wall of muscle in a fancy cape. 

And Felix hates stammering

"I… uh… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… um… what I meant to say was…"

Even without the flicking of his tail, Dedue would be able to sense how annoyed Felix is getting. 

"Your Highness," Dedue steps in, when Dimitri turns to face him Dedue mimics taking in a deep breath with his arms. Dimitri does as shown and smiles at Dedue gratefully. 

"What I meant, Felix," Dimitri tries again in a much more casual tone, "is that a lot has changed very quickly recently and I would like the opportunity to catch up with you, As you are someone I care about deeply. If that's okay?"

Felix's tail stops it's flicking and instead falls beside him and Dedue barely manages to contain his sigh of relief. He'd hate for his words to His Highness earlier- about Felix maturing- to have been false. Felix looks over at him for a brief moment before going to back to Dimitri, Dedue can just see how his eyes a darting around, evidence of how Felix still dislikes making eye contact.

"I… guess that would be okay, " Felix extends, 

"but in return I expect you to train with me... It would be bad if our so-called Savior King became sloppy." The last part is said in a rush, as though said as an afterthought. Dedue can see the truth behind Felix's words, he clearly just wants to spend time with his friend again.

"I believe my work here is done, Your Highness. I will take my leave now and let you two talk." Dedue gives a small bow to His Highness, to which he smiles back fondly, and turns to Felix one more time, "And Felix? I ask that we do not have a repeat of what happened with Sylvain in the dining hall."

With a smirk and the sound of Felix muttering, "that wasn't my fault." Dedue makes his way back to the monastery.

_____________________

Dimitri does everything in his power not to stare longingly after Dedue. Just because Felix accepted the invitation doesn't mean he won't still need help! Come back! Dimitri's mind screams desperately, although he doesn't let the emotion show on his face as Felix would likely see it as a sign of weakness. Not that Dimitri is feeling very strong now that it's just the two of them. It feels as though the weight of their entire history together is sitting on his shoulders.

"So…" Dimitri starts, not really sure where to go from here. Everything he has to say seems like it will upset Felix.

"Oh just come out with it already, will you? You've been staring for weeks while simultaneously avoiding me. I'm not an idiot so just come out and say what you want to say."

Dimitri pauses. Sure Felix is giving him permission to say whatever he wants but it feels like a trap… on the other hand, being dishonest could land him in just as much strife.

"You… have cat ears." Dimitri settles on.

Felix scoffs, "That's the best you've got? You really are a moron."

"And also a tail." Dimitri continues.

'Oh really, King Obvious? I hadn't noticed, is that what those weird growths on my body are? Thank you for blessing me with this truly enlightening knowledge."

Dimitri grimaces but then thinks on what Dedue would want him to do, "Well don't ask me to speak my thoughts if you are only going to get upset upon hearing them. I realise it's obvious to everyone but me but I haven't had the time to process it yet."

Felix's ears fold back forward and his tail relaxes again when Dimitri hadn't even noticed they'd changed in the first place. He smiles a little at the thought that Felix is once again back to wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Albeit, not by choice.

"So…" Felix looks at the ground near Dimitri's feet.

"So," Dimitri responds.

"I have cat ears… and also a tail." Said tail is currently moving back forward in a rather languid wave movement. Dimitri doesn't know if that means something or if it is simply an idle motion.

"Do you… feel very different?" Dimitri asks hesitantly

"Um… Not physically speaking. I didn’t really know how much I'd changed until the… differences made themselves known."

"You're um… you're ears… they look very soft," Dimitri looks away, feeling the blush on his cheeks. He knows Felix appreciates honesty but this is so embarrassing.

"Go ahead," Felix says. When Dimitri turns to look at him Felix has his head tilted forward and his eyes squeezed shut.

"Umm… I'm not sure what-"

"As I said earlier, you've been staring for weeks! So just go ahead and touch them already, I know you want to!"

Dimitri's entire chest fills with warmth and happiness. This is exactly how he wanted things to go! He didn't think it could possibly happen given that Felix is Felix but perhaps Dedue had a point about him maturing since Dimitri's been gone.

Tentatively, he reaches a hand out to where Felix is bowed and does an experimental scratch. A shiver runs through Felix's body and Dimitri feels him pushing up against his hands. Ah, so this is why Felix was so eager to allow him this miracle, he's getting something out of it as well.

His ears are just as soft as Dimitri had imagined and after a little while of scratching something new happens. Purring. Felix is  _ purring _ . Dimitri doesn't understand how on earth he is making that sound but it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful things he's ever heard of.

They stay like that for perhaps a couple minute or so when Dimitri feels that he's probably pushed Felix to the absolute limit of his patience for the day and gently starts to retract his hand. Only, there is suddenly a hand clasped over his on Felix's head.

"Who told you to stop? Huh?" Felix is glaring up at him and holds Dimitri's hand there until he starts to scratch again.

After a while longer, Dimitri thinks that Felix probably isn't going to let him go anytime soon and requests that they move to sit beneath the tree Felix was originally napping under. They end up staying there for what feels like hours, mostly just in comfortable silence filled only with the sound of Felix's purring but with the occasional small talk. Discussing things that happened over the years, what else had changed for Felix. By the time Dedue returns to fetch them for dinner Felix has dozed off and Dimitri doesn't feel far behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> up next (probably): Felix takes a bath

**Author's Note:**

> hahaha can you tell how much I love Dedue? I think he accidentally got more characterisation in this then Felix but you know what he deserves it.
> 
> Also I'm not a felannie shipper and that will not be a thing in this fic I just think they are Like That. 
> 
> I love constructive criticism and I LOVE praise even more so feel free to leave me a comment but kudos make me happy as well.


End file.
